


weather with you

by breakfasttako



Series: NaNoWriMo 2018: Klaroline drabbles [4]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Caroline doesn't know how to survive in the cold, F/M, idk what i'd do..., neither does the writer, thank god she had klaus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 03:52:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16526768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakfasttako/pseuds/breakfasttako
Summary: Caroline really should have checked the weather report this morning. Finding herself fighting off hypothermia isn't her idea of a idea of a good time.





	weather with you

**Author's Note:**

> Story notes: AU/AH

The engine gave a pathetic groan as Caroline cranked it for the fifth time. The damn thing wouldn’t start. She’d been trying since it gave out half an hour ago in the middle of nowhere, and she couldn’t even get the heater to turn on. There was a respectable 78% battery life left on her phone, but there wasn’t a chance in hell she was getting a signal out here.

 

“Let’s go hiking Katherine said. It’ll be fun Katherine said,” Caroline muttered under her breath. What Katherine hadn’t said was that she hadn’t checked the weather and a snow storm was going to catch them by surprise. They’d done their best to outrun the storm, each taking off for their respective cars and getting the hell off the mountain. She hoped Katherine was having better luck, and that her friend would search for her sooner rather than later. Caroline had lived in the cold all her life, but she’d never been a survivalist. She’d only moved out of the city a few months ago when her grandmother taken a fall and needed help getting around.

 

The cold was starting to creep into the car, and Caroline could see her breath starting to fog. Reaching into the backseat, Caroline pulled the emergency pack out. Thank god Matt had insisted she take one when she took a job from him at the general store in town. Shuffling through its contents, she passed over the emergency thermal for a flannel shoved in at the bottom of the pack. Once she had thoroughly burritoed herself across the front seats, she pulled out her phone once more and worked on her Clash of Clans camp. 

 

A couple of hours later, her phone was on it’s last dregs of battery life. She was starting to shiver, and jumping at every little sound. The wind had let up and the snowfall was barely trickling down, but things had gotten dark real fast. A howl had Caroline double checking the locks on her door. She could swear she saw a shack giving off smoke a little less than a mile up the mountain. She contemplated making the trek to check it out, but thought better of approaching the backwoods cabin in the middle of nowhere. She would not be starring in any horror movies today, thank you very much.

 

Less than an hour later, Caroline’s phone was dead, and the tips of her fingers were starting to cramp from the cold despite her gloves. She was starting to feel the instinctive need to leave her nice dry car and seek warmer shelter. A very logical part of her brain told her this was madness. The part that had followed Katherine up the mountain opened the car door. She stumbled out of her car, lost her footing, and landed on all fours. Another howl in the distance accompanied her fall.

 

“Okay, bad idea, bad idea!” She shouted, launching herself back into the car. 

 

Despite the fact she had just seen her tires were buried in snow - knowing even if the cursed car would start, she shouldn’t be driving down the mountain in the dark in these conditions, even if she had chains she on her tires (which she didn’t) - she tried the ignition again. The car sputtered to life for a few seconds before choking and stopping altogether once again. 

 

“Eff my life,” she groaned, banging her head against the steering wheel and giving it a good punch to boot. She about jumped out of her skin when the horn sounded. “Oh my God! Seriously?!”

 

A few minutes later she heard the distinctive sound of a snowmobile revving. It’s purr got closer and closer. Caroline had a precious few moments to search the contents of her purse for her pepper spray. She clutched it to her chest and scrambled to hide under the flannel when she heard the snowmobile stop outside her car. 

 

“Caroline?”

 

Great the killer knew her name. 

 

“Caroline, you there?” 

 

She heard them pull at the car door.

 

“Caroline, answer me I don’t want to have to break your window. I just replaced it last month.”

 

She lowered the blanket to the glare of a flashlight being shined in her eyes and a remarkably familiar silhouette. The silhouette of the very same mechanic who came into the general store twice a week, and she maybe had a not so tiny crush on.

 

“Klaus? What are you doing here?” She asked opening the door for him.

 

“I come up here on the weekends. I think the better question is what you’re doing out here in the middle of a snow storm?”

 

“It’s a whole thing. Any chance I can explain it someplace warmer?” Caroline pouted.

 

By the time they got back up the mountain, Caroline was so cold she couldn’t even appreciate the way she was wrapped around Klaus on the back of his snowmobile. He let her run inside while he took his time in the garage.

 

Her original assessment of it being a shack was maybe a little generous. It was a single room consisting a of a wood burning stove, rickety shelving, a cot, and an armchair. She threw her gloves, boots, and jacket off into the corner. Throwing herself down in front of the stove and pulling Klaus’s sleeping bag off the cot to snuggle into, she could only think of it as paradise. And if she buried her nose in it and enjoyed his smell, at least he wasn’t there to see her embarrass herself.

 

Klaus stomped in shaking off the snow and pulling off his excess winter gear. He smiled at her, and even through the scruff of his beard it was a stunning thing to see. He walked over to the stove, picked up a thermos off one of the shelves, and held it out to her.

 

“Hot chocolate?” he offered. If she wasn’t already halfway in love with the man, that would have done it. 

 

They passed the thermos back and forth as Caroline explained to him Katherine had wanted to get a few readings for her environmental project, but the storm had caught them by surprise. Klaus told her about his weekends up in the woods, debunking all rumors floating around town that he spent his weekends picking up girls in bars in the city. 

 

“So that’s why you come into the store so often? Groceries for the week, and supplies for when you're up here on the weekend?” Caroline asked. 

 

Klaus shrugged, scratching the back of his neck, “I don’t need to much for up here really.”

 

He looked meaningfully at her for a moment before his face fell into a frown. “Caroline are you still cold?”

 

She blinked at the abrupt change in his mood. “Not too bad. Why?”

 

“You're still shivering.” Klaus moved behind her, and placed his hands on her arms rubbing them up and down. “Can you feel all your fingers and toes?”

 

She did a quick evaluation before stumbling over her words as Klaus sat down on his ass and let his long legs unfold on either side of her. “Yeah, a–all there.”

 

“Good.”

 

At a loss, Caroline focused all her energy on not leaning back into Klaus’s broad chest. A little while later her shivering finally subsided, but neither she nor Klaus moved from their position. Eventually, her eyes started to get heavy, and she had to admit to Klaus she was tired. 

 

“Do you want the chair or the cot?” he still hadn't moved, and his breath caressing the back of her neck did bad things to her already poor impulse control.

 

Instead of answering him, she asked, “Is this the only blanket?” shaking the sleeping bag wrapped around her legs.

 

She felt Klaus swallow before he answered, “Yes, your flannel is still wet from when we dropped it getting off the snowmobile earlier. Don’t worry, you can have it. I’ll be fine in my jacket.”

 

“Or we could share it, sleep in front of the fire,” Caroline summoned up all of her nerve to suggest. 

 

Klaus’s hands made a path up her arms once more, “You sure?”

 

“Yeah,” she breathed. 

 

“Okay,” Klaus accepted, and got up to help her unzip the sleeping bag so he could wrap it around both of them. 

 

They both faced the fire with Klaus behind Caroline. She wasn’t sure if this was the best or worst idea she’d ever had. They hadn’t zipped up the sleeping bag, so the quarters weren’t especially tight, but Caroline couldn’t quite get comfortable, shifting every now and then, afraid to fall asleep and unconsciously cuddle Klaus. After the third time she changed positions, Klaus draped his arm over her, and pulled her back into him.

 

Definitely the best idea she ever had.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos if you liked this story.  
> Comments make my day, so if you have a second please leave a few words.
> 
> So like, how unrealistic was this? Because I don't live in the cold, and I have no idea... lol  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvhjHsbhRpw
> 
> My tumblr updates are sporadic and mostly food, fandom, and quotes. Feel free to come say hi :)  
> https://breakfasttako.tumblr.com/
> 
> November word count: 8,146


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